Saturday, August 29, 2009

I met Kevin one night a several months ago doing street outreach. Trying to find some common ground, I started talking to him about his piercings and tattoos. I’m really glad Jesus gave me the courage to make friends with him. After that night, Kevin was one of the people I would look for every time I went under the bridges. I got to know him and his story a little better every week. It wasn’t long before I was bugging my boss at work to hire my new friend. We’ve been co-workers for a few months now.

A few mornings ago, I got a text message from my boss telling me that since he knew I was friends with Kevin he wanted me to know he was in an accident. All he knew at that point was that he had 3 fractures in his face and would be having surgery. That woke me up awfully quickly. What kind of accident? Where is he? How serious are these fractures? What do I do? I just began to pray. I did a little searching and found out where he was and a friend offered to run up to the hospital with me. We got there and walked up to his room and he wasn’t in there. A nurse approached up and eventually told us he had already gone into surgery and should be out by 4:00. Since neither of us were family, there wasn’t a whole lot that she could tell us. After explaining Kevin’s living situation and what our ministry does, she began to give us bits and pieces of information. But I still had no clue what had happened to him, she just said it was pretty bad. Another friend came back up with me around 6:00 and he still wasn’t in his room – that freaked me out even more. She called recovery and he had just gotten in there. They said they weren’t able to repair the fractures the way they had planned, so it took longer than expected. This time we were told it would be at least an hour before we could see him. We came back a little before 8:00 and he was JUST getting back to his room.

He was in so much pain and his face was so swollen it was hard to tell who it was. My heart broke – for him and for whoever did this to him. I let him know I was there and he said he knew who I was, but he was still pretty doped up. We sat with him and tried to talk to him for a couple hours, and once he fell asleep we snuck out. I was glad to see him resting; I can’t imagine the amount of pain he was experiencing.

I went back the next morning and the swelling had gone down A LOT. He still hurt pretty bad. I tried to ask what happened, but he told me he would tell me later. A couple of us went back up that evening and we finally got the story. He swears he only got hit once, and was sure it was with a fist – I’m still wondering how one blow could have done that much damage. At this point there were a lot of concerns about where Kevin would go after getting out – the doctors were talking about releasing him that day! If you saw him and the amount of pain he was in you would have been shocked and the thought of him being discharged. Luckily we had a chance to meet his doctor and he let us know that since he had no place to go, they could keep him through the weekend. That was a little bit of a relief – we are still working on a place for him to stay for a few weeks while he recovers.

I went back twice today and he is back to himself – as far as his attitude, sarcasm, and the little quirks that make Kevin, Kevin. :) His swelling is going to take some time to go down, but it’s getting better little by little. We walked around outside for a little bit, he was really glad to get out of his room.

These next few days and weeks are going to be rough ones. Kevin has smoked for years and years, but he has stitches in his mouth and will risk getting an infection if he smokes. He is pretty hard-headed and insists he will smoke, period. He also has a lot of anger built up toward the guy who did this to him, which is understandable, but I don’t want to see him right back in the same situation by getting in another fight. So, if you would, please pray for him. Pray that his body would continue to heal, that his heart would start forgive, that he would humble himself and give up cigarettes or at least try the nicotine patches that were offered to him, that he would use this situation to get back in touch with his family, that God would provide a place for him to rest and heal, and also that he would feel God’s love and know that he is cared for more that he could ever understand.

Monday, August 24, 2009

God's doing some pretty cool things right now, things that are forcing me to make big decisions and ask hard questions. I'm so grateful for the people He's put in my life to help me push through times like these. The Lord is letting light shine on some dark areas of my life and for the first time in a long time I'm starting to believe again that it IS possible for me to be set free from what has trapped me for so long. I'm also seeing how attached I've become to MY plans and dreams and goals and wants for my life -- and how badly I've got to let go. It's funny how easy it is to talk the talk...but when it really comes down to walking the walk...it's a different story. I know it's going to take some breaking, some losing, probably even some tears, but God's got a plan!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

This is about the same thing I wrote 2 years ago on this day...but I think it's worth repeating!

Can't believe it's been 7 years since the lives of two amazing young people were taken! Samatha Yates & Ian Raderstorf were 2 of the sweetest people you could have ever met! Sam was so beautiful and innocent, and Ian had an insane amount of energy and could make anyone smile no matter what! I know that I will never forget their short lives here on earth and I am so grateful that I had the chance to know both of them!

And...I just want to say to all my friends that I LOVE YOU! And don't you dare forget it! ♥....